Author: upsidedowncanuck

Adventurous....not as funny as I think I am. I care about things. Mostly living things. Some non-living things. I believe in education and strongly believe that you are not fully educated until you step outside of your own little world. The brave may not live forever but the cautious don't live at all.

In February 2017 I moved half way around the world to a tiny country town in New South Wales, Australia.

In the span of one week (and countless months of prep beforehand) I went from all that was familiar to something that was just recognizable.

All for love.

I am beyond lucky that I have an amazing support system in Moama and have countless people looking out for, and bending over backwards for me. It made the transition a thousand times easier and I will forever be grateful for all they have done for me, and my fiancé.

I think now, almost a year later, I am just starting to process all that has happened.

Seeing friends and family in Canada is different now as there is always a looming goodbye. Time is incredibly precious and the pressure to get visits in is almost overwhelming. Spontaneity is no longer my friend. She has been replaced with schedules and time limits. I loved being spontaneous.

Now, I am incredibly happy, lets just get that clear. I found my lobster and I love him beyond measure. But no one can prepare you enough for what it feels like to have your heart in two, very distant, places. It’s a very strange feeling to have when you don’t quite know where you belong. When ‘home is where the heart is’ and your heart is in two places at once, what, and where, is home now?

I realize that after this year, I really don’t know how to do it, to be present in two worlds when I am only physically in one. This is very unclear, and uncharted waters for me and I am looking forward to 2018 and using it as a year to figure all of this out! I am planning on using this space a lot more in 2018, to write about adventures and life in general. Hopefully it will help keep my connections strong even with the distance.

Thank you to everyone who stood by me, supported me and challenged me this year. I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and I can’t wait for 2018!

Ok…so two days, and one hour late on posting but I come bearing excellent news!

After a VERY long, and VERY expensive journey, I received news today that I have been granted my Partner Visa!! I think I read, and re-read, the email at least 10 times. It still feels incredibly surreal.

It has taken me a long time to find my person, and the fact that he is half way around the world makes things a little a lot more complicated, but I am incredibly excited…anxious, scared, nervous…to get this chapter of my life started. In just one month we will be able to wake up next to each other, have actual face to face conversations and discussions and won’t have to wait months to see each other any more. It has taken us over 5 years to get to this point and I can’t wait for February!

So much work has gone into this outcome and there is no possible amount of thanks that is big enough to give those who have given up their time, money and energy into helping us to get this point. Every single person who has helped us, encouraged us or supported us in anyway, please know that Simon and I will be forever grateful and we thank each and every one of you.

It is real now. I will be selling my house, shipping what is left of my little life here in Canada and will be moving halfway around the world to small town NSW/Victoria Australia. I will be leaving my job, my family and my friends here (which I still don’t allow myself to think about because…well, it hurts too much) and will be joining my new Australian family and friends in my new home and at my new (old?!) job. I cannot express how blessed I am to have so much love in two places. Honestly it is overwhelming and something that I really need to sit with and absorb.

Here’s to new beginnings, no matter how old you are! Now start saving…we’ve got plenty of room for visitors!

Well, it’s the start of a brand new year…a year, in particular, where there is a lot of change ahead for me.

I’m selling my home and condensing my life down to three suitcases, a couple of boxes and three dressers. All with the goal of moving half way around the world from Canada to Australia.

Big. Change.

I started this blog to document my first trip (and all the consecutive trips) to Australia and am I’m happy that I have kept it as a place to continue to share all the highs and lows of having a long distance relationship and the consequences that come because of it.

With the start of this new year I have decided to put some more effort into this space and use it for a few different topics. I want to talk about the trials of moving around the world for someone, to update friends and family when I do move and I also want it to be a place to share in my experiences as a Canadian in Australia.

With that said, I also want to spend some time writing on lifestyle, food and beauty. It’s not going to be glamorous by any means but with all that is to come there will be change in all those categories for me as well. It will also give me a chance to work my creative side of my brain a bit more which has fast become a goal of mine for 2017.

I’m really looking forward to what is ahead for me, both personally and through this space, and I am grateful to have you along for the ride as well!

For those who have been wondering where I have gone from the blogging world…I’ve been busy trying to get my Visa, packing up my life and enjoying time with family and friends before the big move.

Along with the move to Australia in 2017, I am planning on being much more active with the blog. I’m still trying to figure out the direction I want to take it but if you’re interested in my change from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere then keep watching this space.

While driving to visit a friend the other day I had a moment of clarity; when it really sunk in that my entire life is about to change.

It is currently the dying days of summer in Canada and my Country is green and lush and everything I love about it. It was while driving down a gorgeous country road when I realized just exactly what I’ll be saying goodbye to in less than a year: of course my family and friends but also fresh water lakes as big as seas, birds with songs you could listen to for hours, and green forests so dense there is no need for sunglasses when exploring them.

After a summer so full of adventure, to be jolted back to the reality of the change that lies ahead really took me aback.

For those who don’t know my situation, my partner lives in Australia and for our lives to move forward together it makes the most sense for me to move there. While I am incredibly happy and excited for this new chapter, and have the most wonderful family and friends to welcome me there, I’m also finding myself having to deal with the reality of saying goodbye to my comfortable life here. I have been on my own for a VERY long time and have a very strong independent sense of self and it would be false to say that I’m not sad about the thought of leaving behind the life I’ve made here.

I’m uncertain why I felt the need to write about my sadness…I got so overwhelmed on that drive and felt I just needed to make it real. It’s such a strange thing, to feel so many conflicting emotions all at once; happy, sad, excited, nervous. I know this won’t be the last time I feel sad, or write about being sad (there are goodbyes to be had and packing up to be done) but there is also so much happiness and sunshine to come and I CANNOT WAIT to write about all of that! Plus…winter is coming, and come the middle of February when it’s still -20C I know I won’t be feeling so nostalgic for my gorgeous Country then.

Until the next time…hug those you love and tell them how much they mean to you…and watch a little Jack

I’ve just come home from booking my flight back out to Australia and I thought I would update on one of my “dream come true” trips I had taken whilst out there this past year.

For as long as I can remember visiting the Great Barrier Reef had been on the top of my Bucket list…I also remember when I was a young teenager looking at a map of Australia and planning a trip to Queensland and wanting to get to Dunk Island (my last name is Duncan after all…)

Well, in September of 2014 my dreams came true.

A big trip up to far north Queensland saw me being successful at ticking two huge events off my list.

With the temperatures feeling, yet again, like -35 degrees celsius, I thought I would share some pictures from my trip and, selfishly use them to help get me pumped for my return back to Australia (I know…I really don’t need any extra reason to get pumped)